Artist:The Pretty Reckless
Song:Take Me Down
Album:Who You Selling For
Did you ever watch the TV show Gossip Girl? It was mostly aimed at teens. If so, you probably remember that one of that show's stars Taylor Momsen is lead singer of the band The Pretty Reckless. Normally when we see an actor get into music, we don't take them too seriously. But since Gossip Girl ended, Taylor hasn't done any acting. She leads the band full time. So maybe she deserves to be taken more seriously. She was born July 26, 1993 in St. Louis. As a child, she was with Ford Models and she played Cindy Lou in the 2000 film How the Grinch Stole Christmas. She auditioned for Hannah Montana but didn't get it. Then she got the role of Jenny Humphreys in the TV series Gossip Girl. The character was a regular at first. She was also successful modelling for IMG Models. When Taylor formed her band in 2009, it was called The Reckless but it was changed to The Pretty Reckless for copyright reasons. She wanted to work with producer Kato Khandwala because he was a rock producer who worked with Paramore. He introduced her to guitarist Ben Phillips and the three started writing together. The other two members are Mark Damon on bass and Jamie Perkins on drums. They signed with Interscope and released an EP and then the 2010 album Light Me Up. They toured and promoted the album. But it didn't sell and Interscope dropped them. The problem with The Pretty Reckless is they aren't pop enough to be really popular and not hard rock enough for that crowd. So they are in the middle somewhere. Taylor left Gossip Girl and announced she was quitting acting to concentrate on music. She wasn't appearing on the show much anyway. The Pretty Reckless signed with Razor & Tie for the 2012 album Going to Hell. The album did better probably because Razor & Tie spent more money to promote it. But they still weren't able to go to the next level. It was the same story for the 2017 album Who You Selling For. They are doing OK as a touring band. But it's a grind. Then producer Kato Khandwala died in a 2018 motorcycle crash. Taylor was ready to give up. But she got over it and signed a new record deal with the indie label Reckless Records. The 2021 album Death by Rock and Roll did OK. I expect that The Pretty Reckless will continue to tour and record. But they could have been much bigger. Here's the video for Take Me Down by The Pretty Reckless.
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